DO NOW

Journal Entry – answer the following:

What is environmental science?

Environmental Science Chapter 1Science and the Environment

Objectives:• Discuss the importance of environmental science.

• Analyze the importance of environmental science from a social and economic context.

• Investigate how humans impact on the environment has changed over the course of history.

Section 1 Understanding Our Environment Goals

Define environmental science List the five major fields that

contribute to environmental science Discuss how human’s impact on the

environment has changed over history

Classify environmental problems

Environmental Science

Devoted to studying the impacts humans have on the environment

NYC Today and 400 yrs ago

Goals of environment science

To understand and solve environmental problems

Ecosystem functions Air Pollution Water Pollution Toxic Chemicals Climate Change Resource usage

Newer field of study

What are the environmental consequences of choosing these types of energy sources?

What are the benefits and costs of these energy sources?

Why does 50% of our current electricity come from coal?

Foundation of Environmental Science

Ecology: the study of how living organisms interact with each other and their nonliving environment

Ecology studies how all of these living and nonliving things interact

Fields of Study that Contribute to Environmental Science

Biology: the study of living organisms Chemistry: the study chemicals and

their interactions Physics: the study of matter and

energy Earth Science: the study of earth’s

nonliving systems Social Sciences: the study of human

populations

Environmental science: how does the natural world work?

Environment impacts Humans

• It has an applied goal: developing solutions to environmental problems

An interdisciplinary field–Natural sciences: information about the world

Environmental Science programs

–Social sciences: values and human behavior

Environmental Studies programs

What are our main environmental problems?

Problem 1: Tragedy of the Commons

Conflicts arise when people share resources

If no one takes responsibility for the resource it will get overused and become degraded.

Examples?

Problem 2: Resource Depletion

Resource depletion: using up resources before they can be replenished

Renewable resources like trees cut faster than they grow– What are some other

example of renewable resources?

– Theoretically can last forever

Problem 2: Resource Depletion

Nonrenewable resource forms more slowly than it is used up– Examples: minerals

like aluminum and fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas.

– Resource is said to be depleted when almost used up

Problem 3: Pollution Pollution: an undesirable

change in the air, water or soil that affects humans or other organisms

Biodegradable - broken down by natural processes

Sewage, paper Non-biodegradable - cannot

be broken down Heavy metals, plastics

Air & water pollution Land pollution Can you give examples?

Problem 4: Loss of Biodiversity

Biodiversity: the number and variety of species that live in an area

Why is loss of biodiversity a bad thing?– Higher biodiversity =

healthier ecosystem– Organisms can be

considered natural resource

Human’s Impact Over History

Wherever humans have hunted, grown food, or settled we have changed the environment.

How have

those changes impacted the environment over human history?

Hunter-Gatherers Most of human history People who obtain food

by moving around collecting plants and hunting wild animals.

What are ways you think they had an impact on the environment?

Why didn’t they have a large impact on the environment?

What kind of life did they lead?

Agricultural Revolution

Plants and animals were domesticated and population grew

10,000 years ago Life got easier Population grew Towns began forming Impact on

environment grew More land used

Crash Course: Agricultural Revolution

Industrial Revolution Caused a shift to fossil

fuels as an energy source

Mid-1700s Life got easier Advances in

technology People lived longer People moved to cities

away from farms Increased

environmental impact WHY???

Green Revolution Methods & technologies that

increase crop output– Large seed heads– Short (resist wind)– Resist disease– High yields– Monoculture – efficient

harvesting & increased output

Key to ending starvation in developing countries

Green Revolution Methods &

technologies that increase crop output– Large amounts of

synthetic fertilizer & chemical pesticides

– Irrigating with lots of water

– Using heavy equipment powered by fossil fuels

– Pollution– Monoculture – reduced

biodiversity & disease prone

What do the Pros of these time periods have in common? The

Cons? PROS CONS

QUESTIONS

Is it possible to have our needs met without impacting the environment?

Are humans the only organism to have an impact on the environment?

What responsibility do we have to preserve the environment? Why?

Do people from all areas of the world impact the environment in the same way?

Population Growth

Population is growing fast

Current World Population

Vast amounts of resources used to meet need for food

Population expected to double in 21st century, before it begins to stabilize

Spaceship Earth

Earth is essentially a “closed system”

Energy from sun comes in and leaves as heat

What we have IS IT… no more… One Earth, One Chance

Became evident during missions to moon late 1960’s

DO NOW – Predict which 5 countries have the largest

ecological footprints and which 5 have the smallest

Who uses most resources?

Developed Countries like the U.S. (high personal wealth) have high consumption rates– What are the

“developed” countries of the world?

Developing Countries: have high population growth, poverty and lower resource consumption– List several

Ecological Footprint The productive area of

land needed to support a persons life

Food, clothes, coal, oil, plastics, forest, etc. all needed to support your lifestyle

Compare countries Calculate Your Ecological Footprint

Sustainability is the Goal!

Condition in which human needs are met without harming future generations.

Are we living sustainable today?

What would need to change?

10 Areas of Critical Global Concern

WaterFoodTransportation

HealthEconomy

EducationEnergyShelterWarWaste

SYSTEMS

a combination of parts forming a complex or single whole:– a mountain system– a railroad system– solar system– ecosystem

the sum of the parts may be greater than the whole

ECOSYSTEMS

BIOTIC– Living

Plants Animals

ABIOTIC– Non living

Rocks Water Air Energy source

How Science Works

In order to satisfy our curiosity about why things are the way they are and about how things happen the way they do, we must…

Make Observations: using our senses and tools to gather information

What are some tools a scientist may use?

http://www.ted.com/talks/beau_lotto_optical_illusions_show_how_we_see.html

ObservationsMake some observations about this photo

Make some observations

Observation

Observation

OBSERVATION

We will be observing a small section of wooded land –– What do you expect to see?

Biotic? Abiotic?

– Look for physical conditions, organisms, relationship among organisms

Collecting Data

Hypothesis and PredictingA testable

explanation of an observation that can lead to further investigation

A logical statement about what will happen if the hypothesis is correct

Can you give an example?

Hypothesis

Hypothesis

HypothesisCholera is caused by people drinking contaminated water.

Which pump appears to be causing the 1854 London Cholera outbreak?

• Spot Map• See patterns in

data

• How could you test this hypothesis?

Collecting Data To study the

hypothesis data are collected and analyzed (experiment)

Conclusions are drawn

Results must be repeatable

Results are communicated

Subject to peer review

Correlation Used when experimentation is impossible

or unethical Reliable association between 2 or more

events Not necessarily cause-and-effect

relationship

Collecting Data

Collecting Data

Drawing Conclusions

Repeating Experiments

Communicating Results

Community Analysis and Feedback – Peer Review

Present their work and get feedback from other researchers at conferences

Write papers about their study

Submit papers for publication in a journal

• Define environmental science

• Discuss how human’s impact on the environment has changed over history – Revolutions?

• Classify environmental resources

• List the major environmental problems

• How do we “do”science?